Editorials

George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May forced all of us to examine our attitudes toward institutional racism.

While most people on the North Coast were preparing for the Fourth of July weekend, staff at the Clatsop County Public Health Department were scrambling to prevent another coronavirus outbreak…

It was a joy last week to report the sale of the Performing Arts Center.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; and they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the purs…

When fireworks are set off in dry dune grass, sometimes we luck out and nothing bad happens. More often, a fire starts but emergency responders get there fast and little damage is done. But th…

Like most everything else, education is set for transformation on a scale that was unimaginable half a year ago.

There is no asterisk required for the Class of 2020.

Anyone who thinks the coronavirus pandemic was a big surprise wasn’t paying attention. A bad one was overdue and had been predicted for decades — talked and written about to such an extent tha…

We hesitate to invoke a dusty metaphor that politicians love — that the coronavirus pandemic is a “war.”

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners has correctly identified the most important policy issues facing the North Coast — housing, a new jail, mental health, child care — but has often miss…

State Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell’s decision to bow out just before the filing deadline in March upended state House District 32.

Property taxes are a critical source of revenue for local governments.

Every day, we get the latest on the coronavirus pandemic. How many people tested positive, and how many have died. The number rolls higher and higher as our political leaders struggle to find …

Norma Paulus would be proud. And she would be amazed. As secretary of state from 1977 until 1985, Paulus was the prime mover of Oregon’s voting by mail. Other states have been slow to follow O…

‘Hollow regret is all we can offer to the species we’ve hustled off into extinction — from the clouds of passenger pigeons that once filled America’s skies to the faintly ridiculous dodo birds…

No one expected the task force Astoria created in 2017 would solve homelessness.

It’s time for the 2020 version of the FisherPoets Gathering. We’re delighted to welcome the poets and the audiences who will savor their salty tales and applaud their creativity.

Monday’s commemoration of Presidents Day was a moment to pause and reflect on the legacy of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Oregon has the chance to make progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that influence climate change.

When Pacific Seafood sought a way to address worker housing in Astoria, the reaction from neighbors was perhaps inevitable.

The Oregon Coast is a national treasure providing 363 miles of access to the Pacific Ocean and yet it is grossly unprotected in one important way. Most of it isn’t covered by Doppler radar.

Clatsop County educators should take a brief, but well deserved, break for a moment to pat themselves on the back for a significant achievement.

One of the bright spots at the Port of Astoria over the past decade is the emergence of cruise ships.

The official U.S. census tally each 10 years — one is coming right up — results in updated population numbers proudly displayed on city limits signs across the country. Declines bring a sense …

Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorates a remarkable American life. It also reminds us of a transformational moment in recent American history. The federal holiday is especially full of meanin…

With the North Coast’s affordable housing crisis in full swing, it is hard to defend Clatsop County’s rule about recreational vehicle living.

It is heartbreaking to see photos of wildlife and sea species that have died from swallowing or becoming tangled in plastic bags.

The results of a study of stakeholder attitudes regarding the proposed breaching of Snake River dams were hardly surprising, but agricultural interests say the document may serve to educate pr…

We often take for granted what we see. But behind every new thing in a city or town lies a story that many of us have forgotten. That is especially so in Astoria, which has enjoyed three decad…

The online post was a heartbreaker. “It’s almost Christmas and I’ve never felt less Christmassy in my life.”

Personal freedom, heartbreak, shame, law and order, dignity, cost to taxpayers — this is only some of what we must balance as the coast struggles with the interlocking dilemmas of homelessness…

Most voters on the North Coast made the right choice by not signing #TimberUnity’s recall petition against state Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell.

The latest news about Ocean View Cemetery offers a chance to examine a longer-term issue that the North Coast and all other communities should address.

It’s painful to consider how Washington state agencies and some political leaders are risking both Willapa Bay and Pacific County’s economy.

In an era of bare-knuckled politics, it is instructive to reflect on the career of William Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

International trade can be complex.

Recent statistics from a poll by Business Insider indicate that more shoppers were expected to buy gifts during Cyber Monday than they did on Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, the two b…

The word “Thanksgiving” resonates throughout our great nation as an opportunity to pause to count our blessings.

The following sentence, tucked in a footnote of a white paper the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife prepared last winter, may hold the key to the health of the southern resident…

It was a disturbing scene.

Astoria deserves a better public library.

Nearly 13 years ago, when imidacloprid was first being considered to combat the burrowing shrimp population explosion in Willapa Bay, it appeared possible it might be licensed by 2012. It was …

Columbia Forum is a remarkable cultural asset for the communities of the lower Columbia River but may be overlooked, particularly by those who have moved here in recent years.

There is a nice symmetry to Fort George Brewery’s $8 million purchase of Astoria Warehousing.

Closure last month of the Warrenton Visitor Center and Museum at Youngs Bay Plaza generated a strong response on social media, with well-deserved appreciation lavished on volunteer Diane Colli…

For two-earner couples and single parents, child care is life and death. In rural Oregon, creating child care capacity that is dependable is a challenge. It is also a largely unseen, but criti…

After the party, Jane Sweet has a lot of cleaning up to do.

The Port of Astoria’s strategic business plan should tell the unvarnished truth about the agency’s troubled past.

To be a Circuit Court judge in a rural county like ours is to become deeply woven into the fabric of society. “The bench,” as judgeships are known in legal circles, is far more than a front-ro…

Our coast’s many fanatical razor clam diggers feel whipsawed between news that local sands swarm with delicious bivalves but that a new blob of warm seawater might produce a toxic bloom and ma…

Setting educational policy should follow the old adage, “It takes all sorts of people to make a world.”

The Port of Astoria Commission was wise to pause the search for a new executive director.

The hole in the middle of Astoria celebrates its ninth anniversary this year.